Speech tourney leaves him speechless

There are tournaments in life other than those in the field of sports. Last month I attended a speech tournament at Ursuline High School in Youngstown. There were 11 high schools from the area in the competition.

To say that adrenaline was running high could be an understatement. Prior to the start of the tournament the participants were milling around in the cafeteria chattering incessantly. The decibel level was ear shattering. I had no way to turn off my hearing aids, because they were the “no turn off” type.

It reminded me of the rat-a-tat-tat staccato noise emanating from my 20 mm anti-aircraft gun when I was serving aboard U.S.S. LST 582 in the South Pacific during World War II. Only this was peaceful and productive noise.

Kitchen duty

Both girls and boys were in business attire. I was there for the second successive year to help out in the kitchen, because my grandson, Patrick Krieger, an Ursuline High School senior, participated in the original oratory division.

This is the first time I was permitted to observe a session, thanks to Joan Williams, the head coach of the speech team at Ursuline. As an octogenarian, I believe life is a never ending learning journey, and we must keep our learning channels open. I attended the Duo Interpretation Competition, and what a great learning experience it turned out to be.

The five sets of students I observed put on Oscar Award level performances. Action and words were in perfect harmony. One duo’s performance was so moving it almost brought me to tears. With talent like this, who needs Hollywood? Watching these 10 minute skits was like watching energizer bunnies in action. I still marvel on how they remember the words and action in their routines. These oratorical performances left me speechless.

X Michael Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree and an inductee in the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.